So what did happen to the salmon this year?

Is there an official story on this?

J

yo jmairey I've been meditating on that one too

seems like one of those years you'd have to stay on it daily to keep in the fish

the few times I've been out conditions were different, one day massive walls of bait, another day butt ugly water all over the place etc

The day I hit the two fish on the rocky pt to dux reef line I felt confident you could get limits in the area for a week or so if you stuck to the area every day

I've been more mystified that more boats haven't been out chasing them Maybe fuel prices are turning everybody into hotbite fishermen



anyway meditating is my primary fishing m.o. these days

The Fish Sniffer   [ fishsniffer.com] has compiled quite a log of salmon politics up til now.
Look under their conservation section.
 It makes facinating reading and explains how the poorer salmon fishing is no accident and pretty much engineered...not by intent but incidental to the higher priority service of other industries and interest groups.

Perhaps we need a Sesame Street for Political people;

 keywords; cold...cool... clean water flow = good for salmon.

 keywords; Warm...algae filled...dams....slow water flow=bad for salmon.


2007

Fish Groups and Indian Tribes Urge Governor to Sign Suction Dredging Bill
Resources Secretary Names John McCamman As Acting DFG Director
Alameda Creek Alliance Celebrates Ten Years Of Fish Restoration
Judge Orders State and Federal Governments to Reduce Pumping to Protect Delta Smelt
Conservation Groups Petition State and Federal Governments to Protect Longfin Smelt
Arnold, Tell the Truth about California Water!
Ryan Broddrick Leaving DFG to Work for Water Agency
Arnold The Fish Terminator: Schwarzenegger Campaigns For Delta Canal, More  Dams
Congress Will Hold Hearing on Dick Cheney’s Role in Klamath Fish Kill
State Appoints North Central Coast Regional MPLA Stakeholder Group
Governor Schwarzenegger Supports Peripheral Canal around Delta
Fish Group Alarmed That Increased Pumping May Result In Delta Smelt’s Extinction
A Victory for the Fish: State Stops Pumping to Protect Delta Smelt!
Warren Buffett Refuses To Meet With Klamath River Tribes And Fishermen
Urgent Action Alert: Delta Smelt on Brink of Extinction - call the Governor NOW!
Judge Affirms Delta Ruling, DWR Files Appeal
Fish and Game Commission Imposes No Fishing Zones On The Central Coast
Senator Simitian's Delta Bill: An Historic Or Forgotten Moment?
Judge Orders State To Shut Down Pumps To Save Delta Fish
Anglers Have High Hopes For Recreational Salmon Season South of Point Arena
Delta Vision Process Excludes Recreational Anglers, Indian Tribes
DFG Forecasts High Klamath, Low Sacramento Salmon Numbers This Year
Feds Deny State Permit For South Delta ‘Improvement’ Project
Water for Fish Campaign Fights for Restoration of the Bay-Delta, Klamath River
SMUD Relicensing Agreement Will Boost River Flows, Double Trout Plants
Warren Buffett, Central Valley Board Take 2006 'Cold, Dead Fish' Awards
“Leaping Steelhead” Conservation Awards for 2006

2006

Boxer and Feinstein Introduce Legislation To Implement San Joaquin Restoration
DFG Makes Big Bust Of Striper Poachers
The Mystery Of The Disappearing Salmon
SMUD, Agencies Reach Agreement In Principle On Upper American Hydroelectric Relicensing
Klamath Riverkeeper Leads 35 Groups In Battle To Clean The Watershed
Fish Group Sues DWR For Taking Threatened And Endangered Salmon
SMUD Surprises River Advocates With Mixed Message On River Restoration
Fish Groups Say No To SMUD’s Hard Line On Relicensing Upper American
Judge's Decision Paves Way For Klamath Dam Removal
Striped Bass Juvenile Index Plummets To Record Low
It's Time To Bring The Klamath Dams Down!
Commission Votes For Network Of Marine Reserves Along Central Coast
Scientists Urge Commission To Develop “Fisherman’s Package” For MPAs During Commission Meeting
The Intertie Project: New Threat Looms Over The California Delta
Fish Kill Update: Nimbus Hatchery
Warren Buffett Gives To Charity As His Dams Kill Salmon
Delta In Crisis, But Water Board Extends Ag Waivers For Five Years
High Water Spurs Massive Salmon Die Off At Nimbus Fish Hatchery
Broad Coalition Urges Water Board To Stop Agribusiness Water
Ideological Opposites Team Up On Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Bill
Keep The World’s Largest Salmon Barbecue Going – Join The Noyo Harbor Salmon Derby
Mike Thompson Unveils Disaster Relief Legislation At Salmon Rally
Recreational, Commercial and Tribal Fishermen Rally Against Klamath Fishery Decline
Fishermen Demand Real Solutions To Salmon Declines
Congressman George Miller Grills Agency Scientists In Delta Fish Decline Hearing
State Water Board Orders Bureau And DWR To Meet Delta Water Standards
Fly Fishers Ask Commission To Act To Stop Snagging On Smith River
Huge Crowd of Anglers Packs Vallejo DFG Meeting
DFG Salmon Fishery Information Meeting Report: No Salmon Season In 2006?
Anglers Rise Up Against Delta Exports At Stockton SDIP Hearing
Fish And Game Commission Defers Decision On Emergency Sturgeon Closure
Congressman George Miller Urges Anglers To Join The Battle To Save The Delta
DFG Survey: Delta Smelt Population Reaches Record Low
Congressman Richard Pombo Receives Cold, Dead Fish Award For 2005
"Leaping Steelhead" Conservation Awards for 2005

2005

Winnemem Wintu Tribe Joins Battle To Save The Delta
Fish Groups Stop Bill Aiming To Gut CVPIA
SMUD Relicensing A One-Time Opportunity To Restore South Fork American River
Court Rejects Bush Administration's Klamath Water Diversion Plan
Volunteers Complete Isolation Pool Project To Enhance American River Fishery
Fishermen And Farmers Protest Pombo's Assault On ESA
Bureau Finally Agrees To Flow Regime On American River
Lawsuit Challenges Federal Plan To Increase Delta Water Exports
Federal Government Slashes Fish Protection In California, Northwest
Judge Rules That Bureau of Reclamation Violated ESA On San Joaquin River
Warm Flows Imperil Feather River Salmon Run
Federal Audit Questions Integrity of Bush Water Policy
Governor Slashes Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Budget
Federal Government Puts Hatchery And Wild Salmon Under Same Umbrella
Anglers Ask DFG: Where Is The Delta Stamp Money?
Conservation Groups File Suit To Stop Fish Kills On Butte Creek
Decline In Delta Forage Species Alarms Fishery Scientists
Federal Agents Conduct Investigation of Steelhead Poisoning At Monterey Bay Hatchery
Department of Interior Backs Down On Attempted Raid Of Trinity Water
Feds Propose Threatened Listing For Sacramento River Green Sturgeon
Recreational Anglers Defeat Bill To Gut Trawl Legislation
Report Lists Klamath, Salmon Rivers Among State's Most Threatened Wild Places
Cutbacks On North Coast Salmon Seasons Result From 2002 Fish Kill
Klamath River Tribes, Fishermen Rally To Remove Dams
Governor Withdraws Nomination of Commissioner Under Pressure
Bush Administration Renews Central Valley Contracts At Expense of Fish
Klamath Basin Farmers Win Technical Victory, But Coho Listing Stays
Big Win for Salmon & Tribes: Westlands Won't Appeal Trinity River Legal Victory
Cold, Dead Fish And Shiny Steelhead Awards For 2004
Report Reveals Enormous Cost of Agricultural Water Subsidies

2004

NOAA Fisheries Abandons Salmon Restoration
Promising Steelhead Run Follows Behind American River Salmon
Wild Salmon Returns On Klamath Tributaries At Record Lows
Fish Restoration Activists Forge Ahead After the Election
NOAA Fisheries Releases Gutted Report To Justify Increased Delta Diversions
State And Federal Government Rush Plan To Increase Delta Diversions
Governor Signs Trawl Bill, Other Environmental Legislation Into Law
Bureau of Reclamation Water Management Imperils American River Fish
Coastside BOD Response To Delta Water Going South
Action Alert: Save California Salmon - Block the Contracts!
McCloud River Indians Hold Ceremonial Protest To Stop Shasta Dam Expansion
The American River's Hidden Fish Kill
Federal Judge Says: Let The San Joaquin Flow!
The American River's Hidden Fish Kill: 181,000 Salmon Die Before Spawning
Scottish Power Makes Commitment to Klamath River Tribes During Scotland Trip
AB 2280 Defeated, But Fish and Game Preservation Fund Audit Approved
Court Orders Restoration of Trinity River Flows!
Tribes, Fishermen Take Klamath River Fight To Scottish Power
NOAA Fisheries Releases Hatchery Policy In Face Of Criticism From Fish Groups
Senate Passes Bill Restricting Bottom Trawling
Last Minute Rally of River Activists Prevents Raid On Parkway Funds
Fishery Groups File Notice To Sue Feds, PG&E Over Butte Creek Fish Kills
Biologists Try to Unravel Mysteries of American River Steelhead
Sen. Alpert, Oceana and United Anglers Join To Restrict Bottom Trawling
River Advocates: Funding For Parks and Park Rangers Is Imperative
SB1319 Draws Mixed Reviews From Anglers
United Anglers Halibut Derby Set For April 24-25
UAC Plans To Raise White Seabass in S.F. Bay
ACTION ALERT! American River Parkway, April 13th Meeting
Sacramentans Rally Against Proposed Parkway Closure
Winter Run Recovery Points To Longer Salmon Season Next Year
Hoopa Valley Tribe Marches To Restore The Trinity
Ryan Broddrick's Vision For The Department of Fish And Game: Interview With The New Director
Fishery Restoration And 'Enviro-Bashing' Don't Mix
Alameda Pulls Out of Trinity River Legal Battle
Cold, Dead Fish & Shiny Steelhead Awards For 2003
Budget Cuts Threaten To Close American River Parkway


and so on.............

are you saying it is monotonic and will get worse and worse?

Because other folks are saying the fish are basically just taking a warm water year off and will be back when the water is colder (assuming that does eventually happenn).

John

Its even fuzzier then that I think.
 The baseline of data is shifting and in the lag time from spawning til maturity things happen. Damaging Hot summers and spawn tolerant cool summers also come into play in sucessive or alternating years.
     Even if 98% of the spawn dies, a great spawn may re-fill the account. But several bad years in a row may drive it to spiral. If the downward spiral is slow, people don't notice it as much and then suddenly its..."hey what happened!"
[Kinda like gaining weight.]
       Sure there are seasonal variations in nature...but if we keep adding to natures own highs and lows the silt, stagnation, algae, heat and chemicals...., we create the conditions for a greater  % of bad seasons.
Steve

No offense steve, that's a great sermon, I'm just looking for some kind of answer as to whether I should sell my salmon gear, 

J

Not yet...don't sell it yet.
 You can still get your small number of salmon and it won't matter one way or another,.
  Of al the things salmon have to worry about, we are the least concern and as you know, kayakers can get in to places others can't and always score some....if they are around.
 The big story however is relevant. Read no futher if not interested;
Steve

From the Fish Sniffer forum;
ps.

The first major environmental disaster for salmon in California was Hydraulic, Placer and Blast mining for gold in the Sacramento and Trinity river systems. Look at the devastation of those watersheds from historical photos, it looked like World War II carpet bombing. The hillsides were washed into the rivers for a series of years. which covered all spawning beds. .
 
Then you had clear cutting of forests to fuel the next economic wave along the Central and North Coast of Old Growth Conifers causing flash floods that forever altered many major watersheds, removing the canopies that shaded rearing habitat and keeping the streams and rivers cool and clear. 
 
Next came the Dam building period. Hundreds of miles of perfect spawing tributaries in the upper, cool reaches of the major salmon rivers blocked off.

Agriculture took over the vast Central Valley Estuary, "draining" the "fetid marshes" to "reclaim rich farmland". The Vast Central Valley Wetlands, home to Elk, WaterFowl, teeming hordes of migrating and rearing salmon and steelhead, dungeness crab, sturgeon, etc. It is now 5% of its former productivity. 
 
And we wonder why the Delta is crashing? Why the Sacramento River Salmon are declining? We cannot envision the immensity of the abuse heaped on this resource, so its easier to blame the harvestors? Harvesting did not cause the salmon declines.

  Steve

jmairey

If you're going by the fishing reports remember the sheep factor

Most of the boats rely on reports and aren't putting in the time and gas to fish salmon right now 

Doesn't mean the salmon aren't there  Commies have been fishing the area outside dux pretty hard so there must be something going on

If a sport boat reports a hot bite somewhere tomorrow at sunrise the place will be stinking with boat fumes


in other words if you take your kayak and your salmon gear and look hard enough I bet you'll find the fish What I wouldn't give to fish the marin coast right now, or maybe a jaunt off of the santa cruz or sm coast

reminds me I need to get some lotto

aren't the great majority of the salmon we fish for effectively planted as fingerlings?

They aren't wild.

so what happened to those fish?

blue, I think the fishing really was worse this year, but you might be right it is amplified by
the sheep factor.

J

Hey, John, Paul, Steve.  The perspective from up here is that this Summer was different than any I remember in terms of where the salmon were caught.  It was known to be a great season here, but it was 10 miles NW of the jaws in 300' of water.  Years ago before electronics became so good I think people were just turning around and going home if they couldn't troll up a fish by the buoys.  So this year it was like you could always go find them at 300 FOW, and it may have always been that way to some extent, but what was so different this year was that the bite never really turned on at the buoy right outside the jaws.  So masses of fish hung out in deep water where bait was plentiful up here, but the pattern was much different than typical.  I think water temps were higher than usual and it was largely due to not having so much of the strong north winds during Summer days that drive upwelling.  Not much to build on from what I've offered here, but I do feel that we're going to see some odd trends moving forward - being a firm believer in such witchcraft as "man-made global warming"...  The Shelter Cove season was a little more typical, except that the utter disappearance of salmon after 7/31 was more severe than the usual general slow later Summer salmon bite there.  The early year was great for small fish (up to 10#) again though, and I'm of course hoping next February - April will offer similar opportunities near shore.  Don't sell your gear.  Come up and fish with me in February, March or April.   

Eric

Abking, thanks for that perspective.

I also saw a bunch of reports from way up in eureka.

but don't those salmon that end up way up there but came
out of the golden gate originally still have to come back through?

Or do they just stay out for another year or go up another river?

J

When 60-80 THOUSAND adult kings died five years ago in the Klamath it didn't represent all of that year's spawners.  The Klamath supports a very large run, so I think many of the fish we catch up here are Klamath fish.  Also, even though the Eel is heavily impacted (catch and release only for 10 years or more), there are still large numbers of kings spawning there.  The Eel used to be third behind the Sac system and the Klamath in terms of numbers of spawning fish in California.  There were canneries on the Eel River early in the 1900's, and historic numbers of spawners were possibly in the millions.  Add other local rivers such as the Smith, Mad, Mattole, Mendo coast streams...etc. and there is a very large pool of different spawners hanging out.  We all know the jury's still out on all of that though.  That big king I caught at Shelter Cove on 9/11/06 could've been a Sac fish, an Eel fish, a Klamath fish, a Smith fish, a Spring salmon (there were no developing sex organs in the gut of a 38 pounder!)...  so it's very very hard to put a finger on what fish are from where...

The fish are there, they're just out farther and deeper because of ocean conditions.  The price of fuel isn't any different from last year, so I doubt that's what's going on.  If anything it was worse last year because expensive gas was a new thing.

 I believe that;
 Long term natural cycles interface with...
 short term natural cycles that interface with...
 man made long term impacts and they all interface with...
 man made short term impacts....

 Sure, theres a chance of a wildcard banner year. As in genetics...they flare up once in a while. If one did say next year, our short term joy would last a few months until the primary trends in progress return.
 Have any clean, cool  new rivers been added lately?
No...
 And, just what are the chances of any kind of a turn-around without undaming and cleaning the principal rivers?
 The totality of the welfare of the salmon come from these few remaining rivers ..and what happened to them is us.
 Its all in our hands and we as fishers are not used to fighting w/ those higher up our own food chain.
 Thats changing finally and will hopefully gain momentum.
Steve
     

The Shelter Cove season was a little more typical, except that the utter disappearance of salmon after 7/31 was more severe than the usual general slow later Summer salmon bite there. 

Eric, you are the kayak-salmon king...BUT...I gotta correct you here. I know there were plenty of salmon caught after July. My dad was up there a lot this summer/fall and he limited 3X in August, twice in Sept, and again last wknd (albiet on a boat). (He also saw some nice halibut at the cleaning station last wknd.)

And, as far as the salmon season in Monterey Bay was concerned. It was much better than last season. And better than 2005. Especially in regards to quality of fish...they were catching SLUGS this year!
Guys are still going out for salmon from Monterey, Moss, and SC. They just aren't the "internet-fishing-website-reportin-type" of salmon anglers.
PK